The Storm Inside
by A-Giant-Fan
Summary: Elsa wakes up one night to find a stranger standing by the docks of Arendelle, staring at the moon by the horizon. He reveals to her that he's not only the same sprite she once knew from her father's tales, but he's far more intertwined with her life than she could have ever feared.


Elsa walked through the dark halls of Arendelle's castle, basking in the moonlight whenever she passed by a window. She tightened her bun of blonde hair, unable to keep a couple longer strands from hanging over her ears. As she dusted off the bottom of her comfy grey sleeping gown, the sleeves wrinkling, Anna's door came into view at the end of the hall. Should she knock on it, wake her sister up and have them make midnight cookies before the servants noticed? Should they head outside to the courtyard and run around in the light snow that had fallen that evening?

"…No," she turned around and headed the other way, "I'll let her sleep…for now."

She didn't know why she'd woken up so late; there was nothing she could recall about any bad dreams that had caused her to get up and wander the halls. She had tired getting back to sleep but it didn't seem to be, so wander she did, until she reached the steps leading to the front doors of the castle.

She smirked. "Maybe just a _few_ minutes outside without the guards would be alright." She raced down the stairs and, quietly unlocking the doors, slipped outside and closed them behind her. She knew it was dangerous to go out without supervision. Then again, she could just _freeze_ any potential intruders. Nothing could take her by surprise.

She walked across to the front gates, staring up at the big wooden doors. Light snow covered the stone beneath her bare feet as she rubbed her hand against them. "…What would Anna do…," she stepped back, "how about…live a little?"

Making sure there was enough space between her and the doors she lifted her foot off the ground, where an icy step appeared. Up she went, a staircase of ice forming before her as she reached the top of the front gates and hopped over them. As she descended to the bridge the ice evaporated. She let out a laugh before covering her mouth, stifling a giggle. "Anna's going to be so envious."

She skipped along the bridge, occasionally sliding along on the snow that froze under her toes. Once amongst the homes of her people she kept her thoughts to a whisper so not to disturb the peace. "I hope the snow becomes thicker this season," she gazed at the ground as she turned a corner, "I'd rather Arendelle have a natural winter instead of using my powers again…?"

She should have been the only person awake in the kingdom, and yet as she neared the docks she noticed a figure standing at the edge by a small rowboat, looking out into the endless horizon of the ocean past the fiord. What was stranger was that she didn't recognize him from anywhere, not even the forests between the town and the mountains. She crouched behind a barrel under one of the nearby tents and peeked over the top, doing her best not to let the scent of fish distract her.

All she could see was his back; a brown poncho and a white shirt that was hanging over his trousers. He had bare feet like her, though his skin was far paler, and to her surprise his messy hair was as white as the snow along the ground. He held a long branch at his side that curved on the top like a shepherd. He didn't seem to show any signs of violence, and a queen couldn't just hide behind a barrel when a stranger was in need of help. Taking a deep breath she stepped out into the light and stood at the beginning of the dock, waiting.

His attention was solely on the horizon. After a moment she had to cough into her arm to get him to turn around, where bright blue eyes looked her over. She placed her hands in front of her torso and kept a straight face. "As Queen Elsa of Arendelle, I request a reason for your docking in my kingdom at such a late hour."

His eyes widened. "…," he looked left and right before pointing to his chest, "…are…are you talking to me?"

"Of course," she narrowed her eyes at him, "unless you man to tell me that there are others with you. Have you come alone or with a group?"

He studied her for a moment before letting out a light chuckle. "I'm on my own. Always have been…never thought someone as stuck up as you would be one of the rare few to notice me," he mockingly bowed to her, "your highness."

She let out a quiet gasp at his rude tone. "You know I could have you thrown out of Arendelle this very moment, don't you? There's no need to be so…callous."

"Like how there's no need for you to be so persnickety?" He leaned against his staff, smiling. "A pleasure, Elsa."

"…Who are you?"

"No one special. The name's Jack. Jack Frost."

Her expressions softened. "Jack…Frost? You…you're not lying, right?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "No, why would I bother doing that? I like my name."

"The hair, the pale skin," she paced over to him, "it all makes sense! I…a-hem," she cleared her throat and crossed her arms, "I demand proof."

He smirked and held his hand out to her. She cautiously took it as he led her to the edge of the dock. "You want proof?" He touched the tip of his staff against the tiny waves, and Elsa awed as they began to freeze over. "Follow me."

They stepped onto the ice and skate around, a light sea breeze drifting in and blowing against their hair. She let out a hearty laugh as Jack continued to place ice on top of the waters. "You really _are_ Jack Frost, the one from the stories father used to tell us as children!"

"I have stories about me?" He laughed along with her as she spun. "Wonder how the Easter kangaroo is taking my sudden fame…say," he noticed her bare feet, "you're a born natural at this. What's your secret?"

She waved her arm over her head in an arch, throwing her own snow into the air. "My secret is no secret."

He skid to a halt, gawking at her as she took a step towards him. "You…you just created snow…like me." He spread his arms out, gesturing to the moon. "The Man on the moon – was he the one who gave you that power? Tell me," he slid over before her, "did he take your memories, too?"

"Man on the moon," she said the name for the first time, "who's he supposed to be? Some sort of special being? No one _gave_ me my powers," she created a snowball in the palm of her hand, "I was born with them. Strange really," she murmured, "since no one in my family has ever been born with them. Mother said it made me special…"

Jack skated past her, deep in thought as she followed him back to the dock. "Born with," he mumbled to himself as they stepped back on, "…I'm guessing, since you're queen now, that your parents are…"

She smiled sadly as they walked back onto stone ground. "It was a great storm at sea. Their ship sank. It's been me and my sister Anna ever since…well, her and her fiancé Kristoff…and his reindeer friend Sven… and Olaf, the snowman I brought to life."

"…You did _what_ to a snowman?"

"Never mind," she noted the worry on his brow as they stopped by the closest tent, "…what's wrong? The stories speak of you as a boy who nips at noses and loves to play tricks on people. You should always be happy."

"Sure, and for every one in a billion people who actually believes those stories, they may get a glimpse of me…but it doesn't change the fact that I'm alone…and up until now I thought I was alone with these powers, too."

"I'm sure your powers are far stronger than mine," she tried for a more cheery, Anna-like mood, "father used to tell us every winter how you could freeze entire kingdoms and create wonders out of ice…oh…like me…um," she quickly changed the subject, "so, what brings you to Arendelle, Jack Frost?"

"Oh, nostalgia. All I do is travel the world, looking for…you know, fun," he shrugged, balancing on the edge of the stairs, "but I came back here to check things out…your mother," he glanced at her, "when she, you know, had you…was how alright?"

No one had ever asked her such a question before. She rubbed her arms, feeling cold for the first time in a long while. "I'm not sure," she frowned, "I mean, I know she loved me; both of my parents did. It's just…my powers made I hard for my family to spend time together…because of me, Anna was alone for so long…but," she felt Jack was hiding something from here, "why do you ask?"

He averted his gaze. "No reason…you know," she stretched, "it's been fun, but I really should be going. A queen needs her beauty sleep, right?" He stepped away from her. "So I'll leave you to it, then."

"Hold on a moment," she grabbed the edge of his poncho, "why are you _really_ here?"

He blinked at her. "…Why do you believe in me?"

Another odd question. "…I had to believe in you. Every year I'd look out my window, watching Anna build snowmen and make snow angels on her own, and I'd think, 'it'll be okay, because Jack Frost is there, and he's putting a smile on her face'…and," she looked back at him, "as long as I believed in you, it made me feel that, maybe, just maybe, I wasn't a freak."

The moon came out from behind a cloud, covering them in its light as Jack turned his back to her. "…I should have never come the first time. I was too inexperienced…I didn't have enough control…"

"Jack," a chill tingled down her spine, "what are you saying?"

"…," he glanced over his shoulder at her, eyes full of a deep regret years beyond her time, "I…it was over twenty years ago…I think," he sat down on the steps and held his staff close, "I came here to look around, you know? See the place. It was a night just like this…a woman came out of the castle. Dark hair, a regal purple gown…and a bit a bump on the old tummy."

She came and sat down next to him. "You met my mother when I was still inside her?"

"She never saw me. Must not have been a believer," he gave a sad chuckle, "she came out by the water and just…stared at the horizon. I came here to see what she saw…nothing but emptiness, really."

"…What happened that night?"

"…I wanted to make it snow for her. She wasn't smiling, so I got high up in the sky in front of her and tried charging up as much energy as I could in my staff. It was my first time trying such a move, but," he smiled, "I wanted to make it snow all the way to the mountains."

She brushed the loose hairs away. "So you made it snow."

"No."

Her eyes slowly widened as she noticed frost beginning to form on his clothes. "It didn't snow. I took aim at the sky, holding my staff out," he re-enacted with the staff he held now, pointing to the moon, "and was just about to let lose my greatest storm…and then I heard her chuckle."

"…She chuckled, and that…somehow stopped the snow?"

He ignored her. "I let my guard down that moment," his staff lowered, "and I watched her speak to you."

"I wasn't there." They stood up and walked to the water's edge. "I wasn't around yet."

"You were inside her tummy, remember?" He let out the tiniest smile again. "She kept telling you how important you were, how you were going to be the most beautiful, caring, responsible girl in the whole kingdom…and then," his staff shot a bolt of ice into the water,

"…I let the storm lose."

"…No," Elsa backed away from him, "you…you don't mean…"

"I hadn't meant to, I swear," he gazed over at her, "my staff wasn't supposed to be aimed at her, but…it just _happened_ …and she fell, holding her stomach. The guards came out, then the king, she was taken away…and I never came back."

Snow fell over their hair as Elsa staggered to the side. "You," she looked at her hands, "you hit her with your power…and I…it's not a coincidence, is it?" She faced him head on. "I have your power, Jack Frost."

"…I should have never returned here," he told her, "I…I just needed to see what happened…how was I supposed to know you would be born with the same powers that shook her to the bone?!"

"All those years," she glared at him as he began to walk down the sidewalk, "I was locked away for _thirteen years_ because of you! You ruined my life – you ruined _Anna's_ life!"

"Hey," he snapped back, " _I_ didn't lock you away! I never meant to harm anyone!"

"Do you have any idea how much pain these powers caused this kingdom," she frantically gestured to the homes, "how _alone_ I felt, unable to ease this…this storm you placed inside of me?!"

" _You have no idea what it means to be alone!_ "

He scream cut short the snowflakes above their heads as the winds died down to a hush whisper. Jack stormed up to Elsa and jabbed his finger into her chest, glaring right back at her. "Your family had their chance to raise you, and they gave it up. My family doesn't even know I exist anymore! No one but faraway strangers ever know I exist! I'm _nothing_!"

"…People never feared you."

He shook his head, stepping away from her. "People never felt _anything_ for me. You can do great things with your powers, Elsa…I'm nothing more than a gust of wind to the world."

She felt as though her anger were melting away. "I…I feel for you, Jack."

"Yes. Hatred, and rightfully so. I…," he looked away again, "look, forget we ever met. Let it go-"

"No," she grabbed his arm, "that is _never_ the answer."

"What?"

She turned him to face her, and for the first time she saw, not an immortal being with spectacular supernatural powers, but a lonely, scared young man who had nothing beyond the staff in his hands and the clothes on his back. "…I let everything go once, and when I did it nearly took Anna from me. We can't just let these things go…I'm sorry, I should have never yelled at you. I know you never meant to hurt anyone."

"…When the Man on the moon told me my name," he quietly admitted to her, "and I first found out I had these powers, I was ecstatic…but when people began to walk right through me, never hearing a word I said…I _needed_ to make it snow, because snow," he smiled, "it brings joy to…most faces. I wanted to make your mother smile because of something I did…I needed purpose. I _always_ need purpose."

"You'll find it, Jack. I know you will…just like I did."

"Elsa," a voice echoed through the streets, "Elsa, where are you? Elsa?"

"Anna," she recognized her sister's voice as Jack began to float away, "wait! Don't leave! She'll understand!"

"No," he chuckled, "she won't. I'm sorry for what I've done…and I'm glad you found use for those powers of mine."

She smiled back. "Looking on the bright side. A little something my sister taught me."

"Elsa," Anna ran out to her in her yellow gown and hair completely askew, "there you are! I was so worried. One of the servants told me you weren't in your room…what have you been doing out here?"

She smirked. "I've just been talking to…an old friend." She gestured to Jack as he hovered over the water. Anna followed her gaze and let her eyes rest where he hung.

"…What old friend?"

"Jack Frost."

Anna stared at her before bursting into laughter. "Oh, Elsa, you and I both know Jack Frost is a fairy tale character dad made up."

"What?" Elsa gawked at her, then at Jack, who simply shrugged. "But he's right there, Anna, before your very eyes."

She glanced out at empty waters. "You don't need to make excuses, Elsa," she put her hand on her shoulder, "if you need to come out and blow off some… _ice_ , that's fine by me."

A couple of guards walked along one of the far streets. "Over here," Anna ran to them, calling out at the top of her voice, "she's fine! There's no need to wake up all of Arendelle now!"

She turned back to Jack. "..You knew she didn't believe in you…this isn't the second time you've come to Arendelle, is it?"

He flew farther off into the distance. "Maybe it'd be easier if you forgot about me, too."

"…I can't forget about you," she happily told him, "you may have started this, but Anna and I finished it. I'm not about to drudge up the past."

"So you're going to…let it go?"

"Heh, not on your life. You owe me…how about a nice, long winter this year?"

He gave her a bow. "As you wish, your highness." He flew off until he was out of view. Elsa gazed up to the moon as Anna called her named.

"…Did you have a part to play in this, too?"

 **So this was an old headcanon of mine a while after I had first seen the movie. No, I don't actually believe that DreamWorks' Jack Frost exists in Elsa's universe, but what if there was magic involved in the creation of her own powers? What if there was something that gave them to her? I wanted so badly to know how she was just randomly born with such magic when no one had apparently ever heard of such a thing (Save for the trolls). So I wrote this as my take on how it just may have happened...you know, if these universes ever collided.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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